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After returning from a lovely holiday to Cuba my friend informed me of a job at the BBC that I might be interested in. The problem was the deadline was the day I got back. This meant constructing an application on no sleep – challenge accepted. More likely to get the job if i apply for it. So I sent off the application and forgot about it and was quickly succumbed to the jet lag.

I applied to around four more jobs that week and the following Monday I found out I had been shortlisted for an Interview at the BBC! That’s the bloody BBC! Like what the hell? The people that entertained me as a child with Get Your Own Back and Chucklevision. The organisation that have delighted my evenings with The Great British Menu and the Great British Bake Off (R.I.P). The home of Strictly Come Dancing and Radio1, they want to interview ME for a job!

I spent that entire week sat at my kitchen table researching the BBC and preparing an answer for every possible question based on the competencies and the job description. If I was going to be interview by the BBC by-joe I was going to be ready for them.

So, on my merry way I went to the interview in Manchester. I was like a kid in a sweet shop- MediaCity is the bees knees, it’s amazing! I stepped off the tram and loved it immediately, so much green, so much water and so new! I turned up for my interview and the offices were so nice I went in did my thing and came out. You know when you really don’t know how an interview went? I answered all their questions, I tackled their assessment and I walked out with a smile on my face – probably because I’d just had an interview with the BBC!!

After the interview I walked around MediaCity, saw the sights and treated myself to lunch. I caught the train home and reminisced about the great day I had.

Fast forward 5 days later I got the call to offer me the job!? The BBC want me to work for them. They saw potential in me to work at the BBC. I have a job at the BBC.

Current feelings: WHAT THE HELL!

I can not comprehend that I have just bagged myself a job at the BBC. This is ridiculous. I don’t think it has really sunk in yet and I’m still feeling a mixture of disbelief and fear.

This brings us to current day where again I am sat in my living room writing this searching the internet for a place to live. At the end of this month I will be starting my new adventure and I am so excited, nervous and shocked. I still think they’ve picked the wrong person.

On Wednesday 31 May I worked my last shift at Sheffield Hallam Students’ Union, meaning ten months after graduating and nine months after beginning my first graduate job I was once again unemployed. This blog is now me trying to navigate graduate life, forging my path and staying sane amid debt, decisions and responsibilities.

I graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2016 with £44,000 of debt and a degree in human geography (LOL). I had the best three years of my life at university; filled with wonderful friends, brilliant experiences and copious amounts of food and alcohol. Ever since I started university I’ve met many people who have questioned my decision to get wildly into debt for a qualification. What will a geography degree qualify you for? Is it really worth it? I recently got my first payment plan from the Student Finance Company shortly after becoming unemployed and I still stand by my decision to go to university. Yes I got a degree but I also developed professionally and personally throughout my time there. I am a significantly more confident and self-assured human now.

At university I got the opportunity to go to Singapore to study Chinese culture and language, I got a free trip to New York city and made some life long friends. I developed a passion for widening participation in education – ensuring everyone knows they can access university if they want it, (saying that I become ever more sceptical of its accessibility with cuts to grants and bursaries). I also became independent for the first time, washing my clothes, cooking my meals and managing my time. I became a self-sufficient human. Without being totally gross I think I found a part of myself at university. I found a place where I belonged, a place I understood and fit in. It was somewhere you could dance to the beat of your own drum and no one would care. I don’t think my drum is very unconventional but being around and meeting people from all over the world with hundreds of different stories really does something for your character and socialisation.

Then it ends.

You’re ripped from the safety and (questionable) comfort of your university life and thrust into adulthood. The university bubble you have been co-ordinating and invested in so dearly suddenly ends and you are somewhat alone to navigate your next adventure.

I consider myself quite lucky in that I had an idea of what I wanted. While at university I was involved with the Geography Society – responsible for sponsorship and publicity. This is where I developed an interest in marketing. So upon graduation, marketing and communication jobs were what I began applying for. I very surprisingly managed to bag myself a graduate internship as a marketing assistant at Sheffield Hallam Students’ Union. This was amazing experience – I learnt so much about marketing and business operations and I’m still very shocked and grateful I got the opportunity to work there. However, all things come to an end and I was made redundant at the end of May.

Bringing us to present day, to me sitting on the sofa in my family home, listening to the dulcet tones of Ed Sheeran ring out from Glastonbury, typing my short graduate story. Now what? Not a clue. But I thought having a place to document my ‘path forging’ would be a good reminder of where I’ve been and how far I’ve come. Also a general space to document my life and ideas.

So for now I have no idea where I’m going. I’m cruising down the road with no signposts or destination in sight… but I am hopeful for the future and excited for my next destinati